Dental caries (cavities) is the most prevalent disease
worldwide;
however, current detection methods suffer from issues associated with
sensitivity, subjective interpretations, and false positive identification
of carious lesions. Therefore, there is a great need for the development
of more sensitive, noninvasive imaging methods. The 30 nm core@shell
NaYF4; Yb20%, Er2%@NaYF4 upconversion nanoparticles
(UCNPs), exhibiting strong upconversion emission from erbium upon
excitation at 975 nm, were used in the imaging of locations of demineralized
enamel and oral biofilm formation for the detection of dental caries.
UCNPs were modified with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) or poly-d-lysine (PDL), and targeting peptides were conjugated to their surface
with affinity for either hydroxyapatite (HA), the material dentin
is composed of, or the caries causing bacteria Streptococcus
mutans. A statistical difference in the binding of targeted
vs nontargeted UCNPs to HA was observed after 15 min, using both upconversion
fluorescence of UCNP (p < 0.001) and elemental
analysis (p = 0.0091). Additionally, using the HA
targeted UCNPs, holes drilled in the enamel of bovine teeth with diameters
of 1.0 and 0.5 mm were visible by the green emission after a 20 min
incubation with no observable nonspecific binding. A statistical difference
was also observed in the binding of targeted versus nontargeted UCNPs
to S. mutans biofilms. This difference was observed
after 15 min, using the fluorescence measurements (p = 0.0125), and only 10 min (p < 0.001) using
elemental analysis via ICP-OES measurements of Y3+ concentration
present in the biofilms. These results highlight the potential of
these UCNPs for use in noninvasive imaging diagnosis of oral disease.